Salient to Investors: Luck, not hard work, is overwhelmingly why the rich are rich and the poor are poor. Our peer average income is set by forces beyond our control and far more than by our own choices. The CBO says the top 20 percent get 50 percent of the national
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: William C. Dudley at New York FRB said: European economic weakness and US budget woes mean more needs to be done to shore up the global economy and financial regulation. The US has too much fiscal restraint in the short-term, and too little consolidation in the long-term. The US economy
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: American companies are the 5 biggest in the world for the first time since the end of 2004 – Exxon , Apple, Google, Berkshire Hathaway, and Wal-Mart . PetroChina, which was one of 3 Chinese stocks in the top 5 last year, has slipped to No. 6. 26 of the world’s
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Fareed Zakaria said: China and India consumers are taking advantage of the drop in prices to buy more gold. Gold bugs believe that central banks have been pumping money into the global economy for decades and that this will make money worthless. The total amount of gold
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The US economy will officially become 3 per cent bigger in July as government statistics take into account 21st century components such as film royalties and spending on R&D. Brent Moulton at the Bureau of Economic Analysis said the update was the biggest since computer software was added in 1999. The changes will
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Generally speaking, the stock market represents large corporations who can borrow cheaply from the bond markets and take advantage of low overseas tax rates. Small business can do neither of these things, despite being America’s most important job creators. The National Federation of Independent Business says this about
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The IMF said: Budget deficits in advanced economies will narrow at a faster pace in 2013 than in 2012 even as countries including the US and Japan lack clear plans to reduce their debt. Fiscal shortfalls will shrink to 4.7 percent of GDP in advanced nations in 2013, the narrowest
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Builders are rushing to satisfy growing demand for rental units. Work on multi-family homes, such as apartment buildings, jumped 31 percent to an annual rate of 417,000, the most since January 2006. Aneta Markowska at Societe Generale said demand from homebuyers or renters does not matter because it’s roofs over peoples’ heads.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The IMF says: The global economy will expand 3.3 percent in 2013 versus its 3.5 percent forecast in January, and 4 percent in 2014. The euro area will contract 0.3 percent in 2013 versus its forecast of a 0.2 percent retreat in January. Expect a 3-speed recovery led by emerging
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: 4 of the biggest stakeholders in untapped deposits known as the Utica Shale in Ohio have put up all or part of their acreage for sale, as prices fall by a third in some cases. The flip-flop underscores the difficulties faced by even experienced drillers around the world
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